Chocolate and Diet Coke
by Collegekid2006
Summary: It's Valentine's Day at the SBPD...and only one Junior Detective seems to care. A one-shot, was going to be a Pineapple Chunk but I decided it stood too well on its own. HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY EVERYONE! :- Yes, I know I'm a day early


"O'Hara!" Lassiter barked, staring down at his desk in dumbfounded rage.

"What?" Juliet asked, looking up from her paperwork.

"What the _hell_ is this?"

He picked up a small, white envelope that had been sitting in the center of his calendar blotter. His name was scrawled across it in looping, almost sickening sweet, letters.

"It's called a Valentine, Detective." She rolled her eyes.

"A _Valentine?_"

He looked vaguely sickened as he held it away from him like it was a bomb.

"Yeah," she laughed, standing up. "A Valentine. Today's Valentine's Day."

"I _know_ it's Valentine's Day!" He snapped, pulling the card out of the envelope and glancing at the front, then opening it and reading the note inside.

Juliet watched in helpless amusement as his face contorted through about a thousand different shades of anger, nausea, and annoyance.

"It has Snoopy on it." He muttered almost bitterly, showing her the front when he was done reading it.

"I know." She smiled.

"He's holding a _heart!"_

"I know! Isn't he cute?"

"_Cute?_" He scowled. "He's a smart-ass dog! And he hangs out with that hippie bird that doesn't even speak English! I hate that damn exclamation point language. I mean, what the hell is that bird saying, anyway?"

"Well, _I_ think he's cute." She insisted, sitting back down again. "And everyone else liked _theirs._"

Lassiter tossed the card on his desk, still scowling at it, then finally took a seat and started to work on his own paperwork.

"So, do you have any plans?" Juliet asked after a minute or so.

"What?"

He spun around in his chair, glaring at her.

"For Valentine's Day…" she pressed on, ignoring his glower. "Do you have any plans?"

"No, I don't have any plans!" He shouted, his ears turning red. "It's just another day, O'Hara! I have five robberies and a homicide to close! My day's pretty much booked solid without any stupid Valentine's Day plans!"

"Yeah. Mine, too." Juliet sighed, resting her hand on her chin.

"Good." Lassiter grumbled. "Then maybe we can get back to work."

"I'll probably just go home…" she continued, not even really talking to him anymore. "…watch sappy movies all night…eat a whole box of chocolates…drink a six-pack of diet coke…"

"Yeah. Me, too." Lassiter rolled his eyes. "Except mine'll be a burger and scotch."

"Also good." Juliet laughed.

Lassiter almost grinned despite himself. He leaned back in his chair, his guard suddenly down ever-so-slightly.

"My wife used to make me take her out…always to some stupid, fancy restaurant. I always just wanted a damn burger and scotch."

"She wouldn't let you get a burger?"

"Not on Valentine's Day…"

"I'm sorry."

Juliet realized a moment too late that it was the wrong thing to say. Lassiter scowled again, spinning back around to his desk.

"Get back to work, O'Hara." He growled.

"Right…" she nodded with a sigh, picking her pen up again.

They worked silently for hours, neither of them bringing up the holiday again.

They both went to lunch, separately, and came back, still not talking as the afternoon slowly ticked by.

Finally, it was five o'clock. Juliet glanced up at the clock, stretching as she stood up to leave.

The rest of her paperwork could wait until tomorrow.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Carlton." She smiled as she put on her jacket.

Lassiter looked up, clearly not planning on leaving anytime soon.

"Will you drop that on the Chief's desk on your way out?" He asked, handing her a file he'd just finished working on.

"Sure," she shrugged, even though the Chief's office was actually in the opposite direction than the front door.

Still, she took the file and dutifully dropped it on the Chief's desk. As she made her way back through the station towards the front door, she noticed Lassiter wasn't at his desk anymore.

She also noticed that there was something on her desk…something that hadn't been there before.

She was too far away to see what the object was, so she quickly turned her steps in that direction.

She stopped suddenly about five feet away, a smile slowly breaking out across her face.

There, in the center of her desk, was a box of chocolates and a six-pack of Diet Coke.

She looked around quickly, finally spotting Lassiter heading out the front door. She thought about calling something to him, but stopped herself when she saw something sticking out of his bag.

It was a small, white envelope with the name Detective Lassiter scrawled across it in lopping, almost sickening sweet, letters. 


End file.
